By Charles Williams

Instead of nightly dosages of “unreality” television, inane sit-coms, endless gossiping goddesses, and media frenzy surrounding the misbehaviors of the notorious, we “desperately” need nightly televised Civics lessons! The news ought to concern itself with aspects of continuing education, because educational failure can no longer be tolerated if we are to truly progress as a cohesive society on the world stage.

How many know what the Electoral College is? Who are your congressional representatives? What congressional district do you live in? What is a unicameral chamber? Who are your Senators and Congressional Representatives in Washington, D.C.? What is a quorum call in the Senate? How many seats are there in the House of Representatives and  the Senate? Who is your Mayor? What are your rights to public assembly? What are the Bill of Rights? What constitutional guarantees do you have? Too few of us can answer these questions. Why? 

There are just too many uninformed Americans now, many of whom paid too little attention in class from K thru 12, if indeed they finished the 12th grade. These persons viewed education as a challenge to remain stupid rather than an opportunity to succeed. There were too many class clowns, too few qualified or interested in going on to college,  too many adolescent male gang members, too many pregnant high school girls. Instead of assuming adult roles as contributing citizens in the majority culture, too many unwittingly fall victim to an insidious sub-culture of criminal behavior, which leads to an ever increasing prison population. These educational “drop-outs” are now the targets of the  televised media charlatans whose messages resonate with the uninformed masses engendering hatred and bigotry disguised as enlightenment and conventional wisdom. These charlatans amass tremendous fortunes peddling their disingenuousness.
 
Every thinking person ought to be as angry as hell with the way our society is disintegrating, regardless of political persuasion. There is the absolute strangle hold by lobbyists in Washington whose influence with money and power circumvent the constitution and create the climate where selfish corporate interests supersede the voice of the people. We distrust our government and our elected officials. This shouldn’t be. We chide the first century mentality of Islam, yet we embrace the first century mentality of Christianity and hold to the ancient parable of  “an eye for an eye” in the twenty first century, where the internet has revolutionized the flow of information, space travel is an every day occurrence, and electric cars are replacing combustion engines. Mortgage agreements are nullifying, failed marriages abound, illegitimate children populate the culture, high school drop out rates soar, and soaring gasoline prices drain meager incomes. Yet the unscrupulous are getting richer.
 
America is now a place where fast food and obesity  have replaced common sense in nutrition. We want something for nothing. Frivolous law suits abound, and lotteries create instant multimillionaires out of the sorely under-educated. No one wants to work anymore, and we chastise immigrants for their willingness to do work we no longer find meaningful. We have lost family, industry, and industriousness. Very few of our citizens are achievers in math and science. No where is this lack of achievement more prevalent than unto those who are chosen to lead. Education, scholastic achievement, and a history of decent accomplishments are no longer standards of qualification. We have relegated ourselves to absolute mediocrity and mendacity. “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” the first line of the Declaration of Independence,  is now edited to read: “We hold these truths- though frivolous amendment which will favor our political faction- self-evident to those whose lack of information- may tend to justify our position.” This is a vengeful misinterpretation of anything resembling truth, honor, or decency.
 
To win, to overcome the opposition, to stay in political power no matter the means, this alone justifies any ends to maintain a status quo. We have become a sideshow on the global stage,  a circus of never-ending exhortations and exhibitions, a shadow without form wrapped in a meaningless meanness of broken promises, inflated idealism, and  massive distrust for each other.
 
And it all rests in the hands of the masses of uninformed citizens who elect and re-elect incompetent leaders to represent us. Our system of government cries out for reason, diligence, and fairness. Will this next major election bring us intelligent leadership?
cw

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